WASHINGTON — In a move that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday should inspire other businesses to do the same, Airbnb — the multibillion Internet company that enables travelers around the world lodge in other people’s homes — committed $80,000 a year for the next three years to support study abroad in China.
The company’s contribution will benefit the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship program — a Congressionally funded program that seeks to diversify the ranks of students who study abroad and intern abroad by providing them with the financial means to go.
“This scholarship and this effort is really what we need to be doing in this shrinking world,” Kerry said of the Gilman scholarship program Monday at the United States Institute of Peace.
The Gilman scholarship program currently sends about 2,800 students from diverse backgrounds to study abroad or intern abroad by providing scholarships of up to $5,000. Those who study a “critical need” language in a country where the language is predominant are automatically considered for the larger, $8,000 Critical Need Language Award. Chinese is considered a critical need language.
The three-year, $80,000-a-year commitment from Airbnb will support 10 U.S. students a year to study in China, state department officials told Diverse.
Airbnb’s contribution will benefit students such as Nathan Gwira, who visited China in 2011 through the Gilman scholarship program, which is sponsored by the sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs at the U.S. Department of State and administered by the New York City-headquartered Institute of International Education.
Gwira, a 2012 Rutgers University graduate, credits the Gilman scholarship program with opening his eyes to a world he may not have otherwise seen.
